Motor-plow.



M. E. COURTNEY.

MOTOR PLOW.

APPLIOATION IIL'ED DBO. 28. 1912'.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

M. E. COURTNEY.

MOTOR PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.28, 1912 Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M. E. COURTNEY.

' MOTOR PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.28,1912. 1 1 12,267. 4 Patented Sept. 29, 1914. aSHEETS-SHEET a.

dvwc wtoz UNITED STATES PATENT onrion.

MOYLAND E. COURTNEY, OF FAIRPLAY.

MOTOR-PLOW.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 28; 1912.

To (166 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MoYLANn E. NEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fairplay, in the county of Polk and State of Missouri, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Motor-Plows, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to motor plows, the object in view being toprovide a motor driven plow or other agricultural implement, in which aninternal combustion motor of any suitable type may be employed forimparting motionto a traction drive wheel, by means of which the frameof the machine, together'with the operative parts thereof, is propelledalong the field.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide meanswhereby when the plow or other implement comes into contact with anobstacle, the motor will be thrown out of operative connection with thedriving wheel of the machine, causing the machine to stop without,breaking the plow beam.

A further object of the invention is to provide means within reach ofthe driver, whereby the direction of rotation ,of the driving wheel ofthe machine may be instantly reversed, without reversing or stopping theoperation of the motor.

With the above and other objects in view, the inventioi'i consists inthe construction, con'ibination ainlarrangement of parts, will behereinafter more illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointedout in the claims hereunto appended. e

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a motor driven plow,embodyii'ig the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.Fig. plan view of the clutch.- Fig. 4 is a detail vertical sectionillustrating the plow raising and lowering mechanism. Fig. 5 is a frontelevation of the front axle.

The motor plow contemplated in this invention comprises an open center.main frame or chassis, comprising the longitudinal bars 1 and 2, rearcross bar 3, and a suitable number of intermediate cross bars to givethe required rigidity to the frame as a whole. At the forward portion ofthe frame is the front. axle .L which is connected rigidly to the sidebars 1 and 2, and is pro- ,vided with pivoted and swinging steeringfully described,

Coo'irri 3 is an enlarged sectional MISSOURI.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.. Serial No. 739,099.

knuckles 5, carrying wheels 6 which are journaled on the dies of thelmuckles, the knuckles bciu otally connected, at 7, to the of the axle,so as to swing on vertical axes.

Connected to the inner end portions of the knuckles are the arcuate bars8 forming bearings for the steering knuckles, and extending backwardtherefrom are arms 9 which are coupled together by a connecting spinrod10. A crank arm 11 has a ]OiIltG(l connection with the connecting rod10, and extends downwardly from the forward end of a steering rod 12 inthe form of a. rock shaft mounted in suitable bearings 13 and 1 4, andprovided at the rear with a. controlling hand wheel 15 arrai'iged justin front of a combined seat and gasolenc tank 16 located at the rear ofthe frame and supported by the sidebars l and 2.

17 designates pendant U-shaped hangers which secure the front axis 4 tothe frame of the machine.

In addition to the support obtained by the Front steering wheels therear portion of the frame of the plow is carried by a traction drivewheel 18 provided on its outer periphery with suitable traction ribs 19.The

the front steering rigid portion the cylinder of the motor, and the flywheel thereof. The shaft 26 of the motor is mounted in a suitablesupporting frame 27 attached to the main frame of the machinc, and inthe rear upper extremities of parallel braces 28 which extend forwardand connect rigidly to the machine frame, as shown in Fig. l. The braces28 are provided; in-

sions 29 provided with slots 30 described in the arc of a circle, ofwhich the shaft 2-3 is the center.

T he shaft 23 of the lZIEtIISIHiSSlOn gear 22 is movable lengthw'e ofthe slots 30, and is mounted in bearings n the. lower rear ends of the:side bars 31 of a pivoted and swinging frame, said frame being pivotallysaid shaft 26 is also journaled,

.termediate their ends, with upward extenmounted, at 32, intermediateits ends. In the upper rear ends of the frame bars 31 there is journaleda reversing pinion 33 which is adapted to be moved into and out ofengagement with a drive pinion 34 adapted to be thrown into and out ofengagement with the shaft 26 of the motor. It will be observed at thispoint that when the frame 31 is rocked on its pivot, the reversingpinion 33 is moved toward and away from the driving pinion 34, andsimultaneously therewith the transmission gear 22 is moved into and outof mesh with the driving pinion 34. The transmission gear is alwaysinmesh with the driving gear21, and also with the reversing pinion 33, butsaid transmission gear. is thrown out of mesh with the driving pinion 34when the reversing pinion 33 is thrown into mesh with said drivinginion.

3 A hand lever 35, rod 36, lever 37, and link 38 may be employed formoving the reversing frame 31 on itsfulcrum, or any other suitable orconvenient means may be employed for that purpose, the same being underthe manual control of the operator in his seat on the machine.

The shaft 26 of the motor is connected by a suitable coupling 39 to ajack shaft or clutch shaft 40 arranged in longitudinal alinementtherewith and forming an end extension thereof. Mounted on the shaft 40is the driving pinion 34, ball bearings being preferably used for suchmounting. Connected fast to the pinion 34 is a female clutch member 41,around which is placed a band brake 42 of the construction now in commonuse with automobiles, and having suitable connections leading back tothe operators seat, to enable the operator 'to apply and release thebrake. The pinion 34 and the clutch member 41 are both normally loose onthe shaft 40 which is constantly rotated by the motor. The end portionof the shaft 40 has loosely mounted thereon a belt pulley 43, the hub ofwhich bears against a collar 44 fast on the shaft 40, as shown in Fig.3. At its inner end, the pulley 43 is provided'with a female clutch face45 arranged at a suitable distance from the female clutch member 41,hereinabove described. Between the two female clutch members is arrangeda double male clutch member, having the two beveled clutch portions 46and 47 the part 46 being adapted to cooperate with the clutch member 41,while the part 47 is adapted to cooperate with the clutch member 45.These two clutch faces 46 and 47 are formed on a common hub which isprovided with a groove 47', the purpose of which will hereinafterappear. Normally, the male clutch member is pressed inward intoengagement with the-clutch member 41 by means of a thrust spring 48which is coiled around the etween the hub of the pulley-43 and the maleclutch member, When the male clutch is thrust outwardly by means,hereinafter described, it serves, on account of being feathered to theshaft 40, to take upthe belt pulley 43 and cause the same to rotate withthe shaft 40 which is driven by the engine shaft.

In some cases, it is desirable to lock the belt pulley 43* to the shaft,so that it may constantly turn and act in the capacity of a fly wheelfor the shaft of the motor. In

- order to'accomplish this, I provide a sliding key 49, which passesthrough a suitable guide on the outer face of the fixed collar 44, asshown in Fig. 3, the inner end of said key ,being'adapted to be held ina socket in the hub, as shown, by means of a spring 50 exerting aninward thrust on said key.

The hub of the clutch member 47 is grooved at 47. to receive the fork ofa bellcrank shifting fever 51, from which a suitable connection 52extends back to a lever mounted on the"dash-board 53 arranged in frontof the drivers seat, as shown in Fig. 1. Another bell-crank shiftinglever 54 is connected to the hub of. the male clutch member, and isconnected to a lever 55 fulcrumed, at 56, intermediate its ends on themachine frame, and .provided in its opposite end with a set screw 57.whi ch passes through the end of the lever, so as to contact with atrip arm 58 on a forwardly extending plunger rod or stem 59 connected atits rear end to the front yoke bar 60 which connects a pafi of plowbeams 61 and 62 arfauged at opposite sides of the center of the machineand out of line with the track of the drive wheel 18.

The stem or plunger rod 59 constitutes a draw bar for the plows, and ismounted for a limited longitudinal movement, so as to bring the trip arm58 into engagement with the set screw 57, the latter being adjustable,and said rod 59 is normally held forward but allowed to yield backwardby means of a coiled compression spring 63 encircling the rod 59, andmounted between a shoulder on said bar and a fixed shoulder on the machine frame.

The oppositely arranged plow beams 1 and 62 are connected at suitablepoints with cross bars 64 and 65. so that the plows and beams areadapted to movetogether as a unit. Therefore, when one of the plowsmeets an obstruction, the plows all move rearwardly, thereby causing thetrip arm 58 to come into contact with the lever 55, which and isconnected to an operating lever7l.

arranged Within reach of the driver. 72

,deslgnates a suitable housing or cab which may be employed to protectthe mechanism and the'operator.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that by means of theconstruction here- "inaboye described, the driver may set the machine tomove either forward or backward. In case one of the plowsmeets anobstruction, the clutch is automatically thrown out and the motor isdisconnected from the driving wheel of the machine, thus bringing themachine to a quick stop and avoidin injury to the plows and othermechanism. The-driver may then swing the reverse frame 31,- so as tothrow the pinion 33 into engagement with the pinion 34, at the same timethrowing the transmission gear 22 out of engagement with the drivingpinion 34. By then letting in a clutch, the machine will be driven,backward. With the aid of the steering mechanism, hereinabove described,the driver may direct, the machine to any desired point, making theturns at the ends of the rows, and otherwise manlpulating the plow in amanner similar to the ordinary automobile, now in common What is claimedis:

1. In a traction engine, an open center.-

frame, an element pulled by the tractor, a centrally arranged tractlondrive wheel, a

front axle, steering wheels connected there=- with, a driving pinion onthe motor shaft,

a gear wheel fast on the axle of the drive,

wheel, atransmission gear wheel meshing wlth the dr1ve wheel gear, areversing pinion meshing with the transmission gear, and

means thrown into action by relative'movement of the frame and theelement pulled by the tractor on meeting an obstruction operating todisengage the driving pinion from its shaft and throw the drivingmechanism out of gear.

2. In a traction engine, an open center frame, an element pulled by thetractor, a centrally arranged traction drive wheel, a front axle,steering wheels connected there with, a driving pinion on the motorshaft, a gear wheel fast on the axle of the drive wheel, a, transmissiongear wheel meshing with the drive wheel gear, a reversing pinion meshingwith the transmission gear, and means thrown into action by relativemovement of the frame and the elementpulled by the tractor on meeting anobstruction operating to disengage the driving pinion from its shaft andthrow the driving mechanism put of gear, a pivoted frame by which thetransmission gear and reversing pinion are carried, and manuallyoperated means for swinging said frame.

3. In a traction engine, an open center frame, an element pulled bythetractor, a centrally arranged traction drive wheel, a front axle,steering wheels connected therewith, a driving pinion on the motorshaft, a

gear wheel fast on the axle of the drive Wheel, a transmission gearwheel meshing with the drive wheel gear, a reversing pinion meshing withthe transmission gear, a trip arm connected with the element pulled bythe tractor, a clutch for throwing the driving pinion and reversingpinion alternately into and out of engagement with the motor shaft, anda clutch operating lever arranged in the path of said trip arm andadapted to be actuated thereby when the element pulled by the tractormeets an obstruction.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MOYLAND E. COURTNEY.

Witnesses:

Coornn JoNEs, Guns 0. HOLMAN.

